Study Desk

"But your ancestors forgot the Lord their God. So he let them become the slaves of Sisera, the commander of the army at Hazor. Then the Lord let them become the slaves of the Philistines and the king of Moab. They all fought against your ancestors.

But then you saw King Nahash of the Ammonites coming to fight against you. You said, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us!' You said that, even though the Lord your God was already your king.

You must fear and respect the Lord . You must serve him and obey his commands. You must not turn against him. You and the king ruling over you must follow the Lord your God. If you do, God will save you.

All the people said to Samuel, "Pray to the Lord your God for us, your servants. Don't let us die! We have sinned many times. And now we have added to these sins—we have asked for a king."

But if you are stubborn and do evil, God will throw you and your king away, like dirt swept out with a broom."

Samuel said, "You did a foolish thing. You did not obey the Lord your God. If you had done what he commanded, the Lord would have let your family rule Israel forever.

But if the Philistine men say, ‘Come up here,' then we will climb up to them. That will be a sign from God. That will mean that the Lord will allow us to defeat them."

Saul was talking to Ahijah the priest waiting for advice from God . But the noise and confusion in the Philistine camp was growing and growing. Saul was becoming impatient. Finally, he said to Ahijah the priest, "That's enough. Put your hand down and stop praying ."

Saul said, "Let's go after the Philistines tonight. We will take everything from them. We will kill them all!" The army answered, "Do whatever you think is best." But the priest said, "Let's ask God."

So Saul asked God, "Should I go chase the Philistines? Will you let us defeat the Philistines?" But God did not answer Saul that day.

Then Saul prayed, " Lord , God of Israel, why haven't you answered me today? Show us who sinned. If it was I or my son Jonathan, give Urim. But if it was your people Israel who sinned, give Thummim." Saul and Jonathan were shown to be the ones who sinned, and the people went free.

Saul said, "I made an oath and asked God to punish me if I didn't keep it. Jonathan, you must die."

But the soldiers said to Saul, "Jonathan led Israel to a great victory today. Must Jonathan die? Never! As surely as the Lord lives, not one hair of Jonathan's head will fall to the ground! God helped Jonathan fight against the Philistines today." So the people saved Jonathan from death.

Saul said, "The soldiers took them from the Amalekites. They saved the best sheep and cattle to burn as sacrifices to the Lord your God. But we destroyed everything else."

And the soldiers took the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal."

The one who lives forever, the God of Israel, does not lie and will not change his mind. He is not like a man who is always changing his mind."

Saul answered, "All right, I sinned! But please come back with me. Show me some respect in front of the leaders and the Israelites. Come back with me so that I may worship the Lord your God."

But the Lord said to Samuel, "Eliab is tall and handsome, but don't judge by things like that. God doesn't look at what people see. People judge by what is on the outside, but the Lord looks at the heart. Eliab is not the right man."

Saul's servants said to him, "An evil spirit from God is bothering you.

Give us the command and we will look for someone who can play the harp. If the evil spirit from God comes on you, this person will play music for you. Then you will feel better."